Humanities › Languages German Verb Conjugations - Sprechen - to Speak Share Flipboard Email Print Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images Languages German Vocabulary Basics History & Culture Pronunciation & Conversation Grammar English as a Second Language Spanish French Italian Japanese Mandarin Russian English Grammar View More by Hyde Flippo Hyde Flippo taught German for 28 years at the high school and community college levels and has published several books on German language and culture. Updated February 05, 2018 The German verb sprechen means to speak or to talk. It is an irregular (strong) verb and a stem-changing verb. Notice the change from e to i in the du and er/sie/es present tense forms. The past participle is gesprochen.Principal Parts: sprechen (spricht) sprach gesprochenImperative (Commands): (du) Sprich! | (ihr) Sprecht! | Sprechen Sie! Sprechen - Present Tense - PräsensDeutschEnglishSingular Present Tenseich sprecheI speak/am speakingdu sprichstyou speak/are speakinger sprichtsie sprichtes sprichthe speaks/is speakingshe speaks/is speakingit speaks/is speakingPlural Present Tensewir sprechenwe speak/are speakingihr sprechtyou (guys) speak/are speakingsie sprechenthey speak/are speakingSie sprechenyou speak/are speakingExamples: Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Do you speak German? Er spricht sehr schnell. He talks very fast. Sprechen - Simple Past Tense - ImperfektDeutschEnglishSingular Simple Past Tenseich sprachI spokedu sprachstyou spokeer sprachsie spraches sprachhe spokeshe spokeit spokePlural Simple Past Tensewir sprachenwe spokeihr sprachtyou (guys) spokesie sprachenthey spokeSie sprachenyou spokeSprechen - Compound Past Tense (Present Perfect) - PerfektDeutschEnglishSingular Compound Past Tenseich habe gesprochenI spoke/have spokendu hast gesprochenyou spoke/have spokener hat gesprochensie hat gesprochenes hat gesprochenhe spoke/has spokenshe spoke/has spokenit spoke/has spokenPlural Compound Past Tensewir haben gesprochenwe spoke/have spokenihr habt gesprochenyou (guys) spokehave spokensie haben gesprochenthey spoke/have spokenSie haben gesprochenyou spoke/have spokenSprechen - Past Perfect Tense - PlusquamperfektDeutschEnglishSingular Past Perfect Tenseich hatte gesprochenI had spokendu hattest gesprochenyou had spokener hatte gesprochensie hatte gesprochenes hatte gesprochenhe had spokenshe had spokenit had spokenPlural Past Perfect Tensewir hatten gesprochenwe had spokenihr hattet gesprochenyou (guys) had spokensie hatten gesprochenthey had spokenSie hatten gesprochenyou had spoken Sprechen - Future Tense - FuturThe future tense is used much less in German than in English. Very often the present tense is used with an adverb instead, as with the present progressive in English: Er ruft morgen an. = He's going to call tomorrow.DeutschEnglishSingular Future Tenseich werde sprechenI will speakdu wirst sprechenyou will speaker wird sprechensie wird sprechenes wird sprechenhe will speakshe will speakit will speakPlural Future Tensewir werden sprechenwe will speakihr werdet sprechenyou (guys) will speaksie werden sprechenthey will speakSie werden sprechenyou will speak Sprechen - Future Perfect Tense - Futur IIDeutschEnglishSingular Future Perfect Tenseich werde gesprochen habenI will have spokendu wirst gesprochen habenyou will have spokener wird gesprochen habensie wird gesprochen habenes wird gesprochen habenhe will have spokenshe will have spokenit will have spokenPlural Future Perfect Tensewir werden gesprochen habenwe will have spokenihr werdet gesprochen habenyou (guys) will have spokensie werden gesprochen habenthey will have spokenSie werden gesprochen habenyou will have spoken Sprechen - Commands - ImperativDeutschEnglishThere are three command (imperative) forms, one for each "you" word. In addition, the "let's" form is used with wir.(du) sprich!speak(ihr) sprecht!speaksprechen Sie!speaksprechen wir!let's speak Sprechen - Subjunctive I - Konjunktiv IDeutschEnglishThe subjunctive is a mood, not a tense. The Subjunctive I (Konjunktiv I) is based on the infinitive form of the verb. It is most often used to express indirect quotation (indirekte Rede). Rare in conversational use, the Subjunctive I is often seen in newspapers, usually in the third person (er spreche, he is said to speak).Singularich spreche (würde sprechen)*I speakdu sprechestyou speaker sprechesie sprechees sprechehe speaksshe speaksit speaks*NOTE: Because the Subjunctive I (Konjunktiv I) of "sprechen" in the first person (ich) is identical to the indicative (normal) form, the Subjunctive II is sometimes substituted.Pluralwir sprechenwe speakihr sprechetyou (guys) speaksie sprechenthey speakSie sprechenyou speak Sprechen - Subjunctive II - Konjunktiv IIDeutschEnglishThe Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) expresses wishful thinking, contrary-to-reality situations and is used to express politeness. The Subjunctive II is based on the simple past tense (Imperfekt, sprach), adding an umlaut + e: spräche.Singularich sprächeI would speakdu sprächestyou would speaker sprächesie sprächees sprächehe would speakshe would speakit would speakPluralwir sprächenwe would speakihr sprächetyou (guys) would speaksie sprächenthey would speakSie sprächenyou would speakSince the subjunctive is a mood and not a tense, it can be used in various tenses. Below are examples that illustrate how sprechen forms the subjunctive in past or future time. In such cases, the subjunctive forms of haben or werden are combined with sprechen.Past TimeDeutschEnglisher habe gesprochenhe is said to have spokenich hätte gesprochenI would have spokensie hätten gesprochenthey would have spokenFuture TimeDeutschEnglisher werde gesprochen habenhe will have spokenich würde sprechenI would speakdu würdest gesprochen habenyou would have spoken Continue Reading